


Mineshafts Are the Worst

by ImperialKatwala



Series: We're Only Young [5]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Video Game Mechanics, We got some injuries boys, We love tired boys taking care of each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27705931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperialKatwala/pseuds/ImperialKatwala
Summary: Dream and Techno have a bad experience in a mineshaft, then get a moment to breathe afterward.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Dave | Technoblade
Series: We're Only Young [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021213
Comments: 48
Kudos: 860





	Mineshafts Are the Worst

Mineshafts, Dream decided, were the _worst._

He and Techno had been mining together, encountered a mineshaft, and decided to explore. And then they'd gotten lost, run into a spider spawner, gotten backed into a corner, and barely gotten out of there alive. Luckily, they had a little camp set up not far away.

They just had to get there.

"C'mon, Dream, stay with me," Techno muttered, more to himself than to Dream. "Just a little bit further."

Dream was really struggling to stay awake. He had gotten swarmed by several spiders at once, so he was losing a lot of blood, and cave spider venom was still coursing through his system. Everything was fuzzy and far away and oh, Techno basically had him in a fireman's carry now, that was nice...

He barely registered when Techno made him sit down, but he _definitely_ noticed when his friend basically forced a glass of milk down his throat to counteract the poison. Dream sputtered, almost choking on it, but his head did start to clear almost immediately, and he started drinking the milk of his own accord.

Once he was sure Dream wasn't going to drop the glass, Techno started rummaging through his Ender chest. "How much of that was injuries and how much was poison?"

Dream paused for a moment, assessing. "Um... th' wooziness was the poison, I think, but everything hurts still. How 'bout you?" Oh, he was still slurring a little, that was a bad sign.

"Managed to not get bitten, so I'm mostly okay. Not poisoned, at least."

That wasn't exactly encouraging, but it was better than nothing, so Dream didn't push. He just finished his milk and readjusted his mask (Techno had shoved it up a little).

Techno pulled out a roll of bandages and a few potions. He handed one to Dream (purpley-pink, a regen potion) and drank one himself, then started soaking some wool in health potions.

Dream chugged the potion, then scooted over to their fire pit to get a fire going.

This was a familiar song and dance to both of them; the exhaustion, the pain, the aftermath. They both worked quietly, too tired and too focused to chat, but there was a comfort in not being alone. Neither of them had to do everything.

Techno nudged Dream's shoulder and asked quietly, "Can you wrap yourself up or do you want me to do it?"

"I've got a bite on my arm, can you do that one? I've got the rest."

Techno nodded. He moved to Dream's other side and pressed a wad of potion-soaked wool against the wound on his arm, then bound it firmly in place with the bandages.

Dream squeezed his eyes shut and bit back a hiss. It always burned when potions were first applied, and it always settled back into a dull ache as the skin knit itself back together. That didn't make the initial pain easier.

When Techno finished, he handed Dream more wool and bandages, then went over to the fire and started prepping a stew. He had a noticable limp.

"What about you?" Dream asked, binding up a wound on his side. "Do you need any help?"

"No."

"Techno."

Techno glanced back at him, as emotionless and hard to read as Dream's mask. He raised an eyebrow in question.

Dream just looked at him, head tilted slightly forward. _I don't believe you._

They held the odd staring contest for a few moments. Then Techno sighed, and it was like all the fight drained out of him. "... Shoulder."

Dream nodded and moved over to bandage Techno's shoulder. He had been expecting more of an argument; Techno usually didn't like admitting to needing help, and the fact that he had given in so easily was either a very bad sign or a very good sign, Dream wasn't sure which. He was leaning toward good, since the shoulder wound didn't look especially serious.

Techno murmured a quiet "thank you" before going back to preparing dinner.

Dream nodded, finished taking care of his own wounds, then leaned over to take a look at Techno's leg.

"I can take care of it," Techno told him, shifting the leg away and failing to hide a wince. "Don't worry about it."

"You're busy making food. Besides, you basically carried me here, I want to help." He'd practically carried Dream with a bad leg and a bad shoulder, and that thought sent a pang of guilt through Dream sharper than the spiders' fangs. His friend was in a _lot_ of pain right now, even if he refused to admit it.

There were a few long moments of hesitance. Then Techno sighed, moved his leg back to where it had been, and went back to what he was doing.

Dream took that as permission and started wrapping the wound, adding a bit of regen potion for good measure. It looked pretty bad. "What's for dinner?"

"Potato soup." Techno put the pot of ingredients over the fire to heat up.

Dream chuckled. "Of course it's potatoes."

"Shut up, potatoes are great," Techno grumbled. "They're fillin' and they taste good and they're easy to cook."

"I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying I wouldn't have expected anything else from you, mister Number One Potato Farmer."

"Heavy is the head that bears the crown."

Dream laughed. It felt good to laugh after the stress of the last few hours.

Techno smiled, then said "You know, this is gonna take a while to cook. If you want to get some sleep, I'll wake you up when it's done."

"And leave you by yourself? You'd be so bored without me," Dream teased.

"Oh no, peace and quiet, how ever will I survive?"

Dream shook his head, grinning. "Ha ha. Seriously, though, I don't want to make you stay up by yourself. You're hurt too."

"You got poisoned," Techno pointed out.

"And you had to help me back to camp with a bad leg and a bad shoulder," Dream returned evenly. "Your point?"

"... We're both really bad at self-care, aren't we?"

There was a beat of silence as they processed the question. Then Dream started wheezing so hard he could barely breathe, and Techno started laughing too, after a moment. They laughed both at the truth of the statement and with relief that they weren't dead, that they had each other in this; it felt like coming up for air after almost drowning. Like they hadn't really believed they were okay until that moment.

Dream leaned against Techno's uninjured shoulder as he got his breathing back under control, watching the flames in the fire pit jump and flicker. He was still really tired, after all, and the fire was relaxing to watch.

A peaceful quiet descended over the campsite. The only sounds were their breathing, the ambient sounds of the forest around them, the campfire, and the quiet simmering of Techno's potato soup. It felt like the whole world had calmed down with them, allowing them this space to rest and breathe.

Dream felt himself slowing down, like he was moving through molasses. He must have dozed off at some point, because the next thing he knew, Techno was gently shaking him awake and the fire had burned down somewhat. He hummed in sleepy confusion.

"Food's done," Techno explained quietly, handing him a bowl.

"Thanks," Dream mumbled, sitting up a bit and taking the bowl carefully. He was still tired, and he did _not_ want to spill hot soup on either of them.

They ate without talking, still halfway slumped against each other, but it was a comfortable sort of silence. The soup was, as Techno had predicted, really good; Dream had two bowls, and Techno had three. Dream stored the rest of the soup in his inventory for later.

Now that they didn't have a use for the fire, the issue of what to do with it arose. Waiting for it to burn down on its own would take a long time, and they both agreed that sleeping in shifts to make sure nothing caught on fire wasn't worth it, so they decided to just put the fire out. By some miracle, they had thought ahead, so there was a bucket of sand in the campsite that they could dump into the fire pit. Then they both dragged their sleeping bags over next to the pit to soak up its residual warmth.

Dream felt full and warm and safe, so as he got into his sleeping bag, exhaustion hit him like a tidal wave. He didn't even have the energy to bother with taking off his mask.

As he drifted off, he felt a hand wrap loosely around his wrist. Two fingers rested against his pulse point, seeking confirmation that he was okay.

He covered Techno's hand with his own in silent reassurance and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Platonic physical affection pog!!! I love these two with my whole heart.


End file.
